PHILADELPHIA — Going into the Big East Tournament with three straight losses is never good. Going to New York with three straight losses when you’re squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble usually spells NIT.

Villanova avoided that fate Wednesday night.

The Wildcats gave their NCAA Tournament resume a major boost

After blowing leads against Seton Hall and No. 20/22 Pittsburgh, the Wildcats gave their NCAA Tournament resume a huge boost with a 67-57 triumph over fifth-ranked Georgetown in the regular-season finale at the Wells Fargo Center.

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It was Villanova’s third win over a top five team and fourth over a team ranked in The Associated Press top 25. The Wildcats (19-12 overall, 10-6 Big East) beat Louisville when the Cardinals were ranked fifth and knocked off Syracuse when the Orange were No. 3 in the country.

Is that enough to earn the Wildcats a ticket to the big dance?”

“I think so,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “Everybody has a unique resume and I think having 10 wins in this league with the wins that we have, the quality of wins against the caliber of teams and I think some of our previous bad losses, like against Providence, they listed that as bad losses, aren’t really bad losses. Providence can win 10 games in this league.

“I just think given where everything is right now we would be, but we also know that we’re close enough that things could happen, too. I think we’re in a good spot, but we’re not going to worry about that.”

The Wildcats will learn their fate when the tournament field is revealed March 17. Until then, it’s all speculation, but it doesn’t hurt to have another top-five scalp on the resume.

JayVaughn Pinkston led the way with 20 points. Darrun Hilliard added 14. Ryan Arcidiacono chipped in with 11 points and six assists and James Bell had 10 points to give Villanova double-digit wins in the Big East for the first time since 2009-10.

Since the league formed, 94 percent of the teams that won 10 games in the league have played in the NCAA Tournament. Villanova has a chance to improve its resume next week in the Big East Tournament. Villanova will be seeded seventh or eighth, depending on what happens in Saturday’s game between Providence and Connecticut. If the Friars win, they’re the seventh seed and Villanova is eighth. If the Huskies come out on top, Villanova is the seventh seed.

That also is beyond Villanova’s control. All the Wildcats could do was take care of business, no easy chore considering what they and the Hoyas have been through recently. Villanova was coming off a week it would rather forget. The Wildcats let Seton Hall come back for a 66-65 victory Feb. 25 at the Prudential Center, and then squandered a second-half lead and fell to Pittsburgh in overtime Sunday, 73-64.

No one would have blamed the Wildcats for going in the tank after those two heart-breaking losses or when the Hoyas (23-5, 13-4) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but Villanova showed its resolve and bounced back to beat Georgetown for the first time since 2010 and deny the Hoyas a chance from clinching a share of the Big East regular-season title.

“I’m just really proud, not just proud, I’m impressed with how well our guys have played in the last couple of games, even though we lost,” Wright said. “Most young guys would feel sorry for themselves, but these guys just come to work every day. We had two hard practices with no days off and our guys really came in and played great defense. That Georgetown team executes its offense as well as any team in the country and our guys really played great.”

Villanova forced the Hoyas into a season-high 23 turnovers and kept Otto Porter Jr., the second-leading scorer in the conference, in check. Porter did finish with 17 points, but he was never able to take over the game.

“Give them credit,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “They came out aggressive and played well.”

While Thompson was impressed with Villanova defense, he was not happy with the foul disparity, even though he did not come right out and say it.

Georgetown was whistled for 27 fouls and never got in the bonus in either half. Villanova was only called for 12 fouls and shot 30-for-42 from the free throw line. Georgetown was 4-for-8.

“I don’t believe so, but I cannot remember,” Thompson said when asked if he had ever been involved in a game with that kind of foul discrepancy. “I’ll keep the other issues to myself.”

The free throw shooting allowed Villanova to stay in front and seal the victory even the Wildcats only had one field goal in the final 14 minutes, but it was a big one.

Hilliard drilled a 3-pointer with 5:43 left to give the Wildcats a 54-48 lead.

“There was no second-guessing there,” Hilliard said. “It’s a shot I take and may every day in practice so I know my teammates have the confidence in me to take it.”

The triple kept the Hoyas at bay and the Wildcats sealed the deal by shooting 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to snap their two-game winning streak and rack up win No. 3 against a top five team.